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Finlay's Ridiculous Idea

Yellow fever is a dangerous disease that is mostly found in
hot, humid places. For many years, no one understood how
it was spread. But then a scientist named Carlos Juan
Finlay made a discovery that changed everything.

Carlos Juan Finlay was born in Cuba in 1833. At that time,

yellow fever was a major problem for Cuba. Hundreds of
people were dying of the disease every year, but no one
know how to prevent it. People believed that yellow fever
was spread from person to person, like a cold or the flu.
They tried to protect themselves by staying away from sick
people. However, this did not help.

Dr. Finlay had a different idea. He noticed that most cases

of yellow fever occurred during mosquito season. Finlay believed that the mosquitoes spread the
disease.

Unfortunately, no one agreed with Finlay at first. People thought his idea was ridiculous. No one had
ever heard of mosquitoes spreading disease before. It took him 20 years to prove that his hypothesis
was correct. Once he was able to convince everyone that mosquitoes spread yellow fever, people
were able to protect themselves from getting the disease. Today, there is no more yellow fever in
Cuba.

1) Based on the passage, readers can conclude that the climate of Cuba is

A. cold and dry

B. hot and dry
C. cold and humid
D. hot and humid

2) Based on the passage, people were not able to protect themselves from yellow fever before
Finlay made his discovery because they did not know

A. how the disease was spread

B. what kind of medicine to take
C. when to stay away from sick people
D. how to get rid of the mosquitoes

3) Based on the way it is used in paragraph 4, a hypothesis is

A. a lie
 B. an educated guess
C. a mistake
D. a type of medicine

4) Which of the following sentences would fit best in paragraph 3?

A. Finlay studied medicine in both France and the United States, but moved back to Cuba to be a
doctor.
B. It is called “yellow fever” because the skin and eyes of people who have the disease often turn
yellow.
C. Finlay did hundreds of experiments to prove that mosquitoes carried yellow fever.
D. Finlay also noticed that most people who had yellow fever also had mosquito bites.

5) People likely did not believe Carlos Juan Finlay’s idea about how yellow fever spread at first
because

A. they did not think that Finlay was a good doctor

B. Finlay had lied to them in the past
C. they did not know that mosquitoes could spread diseases
D. they had proof that it was spread from person to person

6) The purpose of the final sentence of the passage is to show that

A. Finlay was not as successful as he had hoped.

B. Finlay’s discovery saved thousands of lives.
C. The people who did not believe Finlay were right all along.
D. Thanks to Finlay, Cuban people are the healthiest people in the world.

7) Pretend that you are Carlos Juan Finlay. Write an entry in your journal about your discovery.
Explain how you figured out that mosquitoes spread yellow fever. Describe how you feel about
the fact that no one believes you.
 Answers and Explanations

1) D
Core Standard: Integration of Knowledge

In the first paragraph, the passage states: “Yellow fever is a dangerous disease that is mostly found
in hot, humid places.” The second paragraph says that “yellow fever was a major problem for Cuba.”
If yellow fever is found in hot humid places, and Cuba had a problem with yellow fever, readers can
conclude that the climate of Cuba is hot and humid. Therefore (D) is correct.

The passage does not provide evidence to support choices (A), (B), or (C). Therefore they are
incorrect.

2) A
Core Standard: Key Ideas and Details

Paragraph 2 states: “People believed that yellow fever was spread from person to person, like a cold
or the flu. They tried to protect themselves by staying away from sick people. However, this did not
help.” The final paragraph states that “Once [Finlay] was able to convince everyone that mosquitoes
spread yellow fever, people were able to protect themselves from getting the disease.” This
information shows that people were not able to protect themselves from yellow fever because they
did not understand how it was spread. Therefore (A) is correct.

The passage does not provide evidence to support choices (B), (C), or (D). Therefore they are
incorrect.

3) B
Core Standard: Craft and Structure

hypothesis (noun): a proposed explanation for something based on evidence or observation; a

theory

In paragraph 4, the passage states: “It took him 20 years to prove that his hypothesis was correct.”
We can use context clues—hints from known words or phrases around the unknown word or
phrase—to help us figure out what the word hypothesis most nearly means. In paragraph 3, the
passage says that Finlay “had a different idea” about how yellow fever was spread. After noticing
that “most cases of yellow fever occurred during mosquito season,” Finlay came to believe that
“mosquitoes spread the disease.” The final paragraph explains that “people thought his idea was
ridiculous” at first. Finlay came up with the idea about mosquitoes spreading the disease after
making an observation about yellow fever and mosquito season. In other words, he made an
educated guess about how the disease was spread. He had to prove that this guess was correct
before anyone took him seriously. Based on this context, readers can conclude that the word “
hypothesis” means an educated guess. Therefore (B) is correct.

The passage does not provide evidence to support choices (A), (C), or (D). Therefore they are
incorrect.
4) D
Core Standard: Integration of Knowledge

Paragraph 3 explains how Finlay came up with the idea that mosquitoes spread yellow fever. It
states that Finlay “noticed that most cases of yellow fever occurred during mosquito season. Finlay
believed that the mosquitoes spread the disease.” The sentence “Finlay also noticed that most
people who had yellow fever also had mosquito bites” also explains how Finlay linked yellow fever
with mosquitoes. Therefore (D) is correct.

Paragraph 3 is about how Finlay came up with the idea that mosquitoes spread yellow fever. A
sentence about where Finlay studied would not fit with this paragraph. Therefore (A) is incorrect.

Paragraph 3 is about how Finlay came up with the idea that mosquitoes spread yellow fever. A
sentence explaining why the disease is called “yellow fever” would not fit with this paragraph.
Therefore (B) is incorrect.

Paragraph 3 is about how Finlay came up with the idea that mosquitoes spread yellow fever. It does
not talk about how Finlay proved that this idea was correct. That is explained in the final paragraph,
which states: “It took him 20 years to prove that his hypothesis was correct.” Therefore (C) is
incorrect.

5) C
Core Standard: Key Ideas and Details

In the final paragraph, the passage states: “Unfortunately, no one agreed with Finlay at first. People
thought his idea was ridiculous. No one had ever heard of mosquitoes spreading disease before.”
This information shows that people did believe Finlay because they did not know that mosquitoes
could spread disease. Therefore (C) is correct.

The passage does not provide evidence to support choices (A), (B), or (D). Therefore they are
incorrect.

6) B
Core Standard: Integration of Knowledge

The final sentence of the passage informs readers that “Today, there is no more yellow fever in
Cuba.” In paragraph 2, the passage states that “yellow fever was a major problem for Cuba.
Hundreds of people were dying of the disease every year, but no one know how to prevent it.”
Because Finlay discovered that mosquitoes spread yellow fever, people were able to figure out how
to protect themselves from the disease. There is no more yellow fever in Cuba today because Finlay
showed everyone how to stop yellow fever from spreading. His discovery ended up saving
thousands of lives. Therefore (B) is correct.

Finlay wanted to help stop yellow fever in Cuba. A sentence stating that there is no more yellow
fever in Cuba shows that Finlay was successful. Therefore (A) is incorrect.

A sentence that shows that there is no more yellow fever in Cuba because of Finlay’s discovery
shows that the people who did not believe Finlay were wrong. Therefore (C) is incorrect.

The final sentence states that “today, there is no more yellow fever in Cuba.” Although this sentence
does show that Cuban people do not have to worry about yellow fever, it does not claim that Cuban
people are the healthiest in the world. Therefore (D) is incorrect.